Louis XII of France
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| Louis XII the Father of his People | ||
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| King of France | ||
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| Reign | 7 April 1498 – 1 January 1515 | |
| Coronation | 27 May 1498, Reims | |
| Titles | Duke of Orléans and Valois (1465 – 1498) Jure uxoris Duke of Brittany (1499 – 1514) Duke of Milan (1499 – 1512) King of Naples (1501 – 1504) |
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| Born | 27 June 1462 | |
| Château de Blois, France | ||
| Died | 1 January 1515 | |
| Buried | Saint Denis Basilica, France | |
| Predecessor | Charles VIII | |
| Successor | Francis I | |
| Consort | Joan of France (1464 – 1505) Anne of Brittany (1477 – 1514) Mary of England (1496 – 1533) |
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| Issue | Claude, Queen of France (1499 – 1524) Renée, Duchess of Ferrara (1510 – 1575) |
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| Royal House | Valois Dynasty | |
| Father | Charles of Orléans (1394 – 1465) | |
| Mother | Marie of Cleves (1426 – 1487) | |
Louis XII the Father of the People (French: Louis XII le Père du Peuple) (June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) was King of France 1498 – January 1, 1515.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Birth
Louis XII, King of France was born on June 27, 1462 in the Château de Blois, France. The son of Charles, duc d'Orléans and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his father as Duke of Orléans in 1465.
[edit] Marriage
In 1476 Louis was required to marry the pious Jeanne of France (1464 – 1505), the daughter of his second cousin, Louis XI, King of France. After Louis’s predecessor Charles VIII, King of France died childless, this marriage was annulled in order to allow Louis to marry Charles’ widow, Anne of Brittany (1477-1514), the heiress and daughter of Francis II of Brittany in a strategy meant to integrate the duchy of Brittany into the French Monarchy.
The annullment was not simple, however. Described as "one of the seamiest lawsuits of the age", Louis did not, as might be expected, argue the marriage to be void due to consanguinity (the general excuse for the dissolution of a marriage at that time): though he could produce witnesses to claim that the two were closely related due to various linking marriages, there was no documentary proof, merely the opinions of courtiers. Likewise, Louis could not argue that he had been below the legal age of consent (fourteen) to marry: nobody was certain when he had been born, with Louis claiming to have been twelve at the time, and others ranging in estimates between eleven and thirteen. Since there was no proof, however, he was forced to make other excuses.
Accordingly, Louis (much to the horror of the Queen) claimed that she was physically malformed, providing a rich variety of detail as to how she was malformed, and that he had therefore been unable to consummate the marriage. Jeanne, unsurprisingly, fought this uncertain charge fiercely, producing witnesses to Louis boasting of having "mounted my wife three or four times during the night." Louis also claimed that his sexual performance had been inhibited by witchcraft; Jeanne responded by asking how he was able to know what it was like to try to make love to her.
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Had the Pope been a neutral party, Jeanne would likely have won, for Louis' case was exceedingly weak. Unfortunately for the Queen, Pope Alexander VI was committed for political reasons to grant the divorce, and accordingly he ruled against the Queen, granting the annulment. Outraged, Jeanne reluctantly stepped aside, saying that she would pray for her former husband, and Louis married the equally reluctant Queen Anne.
After Anne's death, Louis married the English Princess Mary Tudor (1496 – 1533), the daughter of Henry VII, King of England in Abbeville, France on October 9, 1514 in an attempt to conceive an heir to his throne, but was unsuccessful.
[edit] Children
Louis's only marriage which produced any children was his second, with Anne of Brittany. By her he had two surviving daughters:
- Claude of France (1499 – 1524), later married to Francis I, King of France.
- Renée of France (1510 – 1575), later married to Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.
There were also two boys, who died shortly after birth:
- The elder son, lived and died 21 January 1508
- The younger son, lived and died 21 January 1512
[edit] Notable events
In an attempt to make good his claim to the duchy of Milan, Louis led several invasions of Italy. He successfully secured Milan in 1499 from his enemy Ludovico Sforza, and it remained a French stronghold until 1511, when Pope Julius II formed the Holy League to oppose the French ambition in Italy. The French were eventually driven from Milan by the Swiss in 1513.
Louis also pursued Charles VIII's claim to the kingdom of Naples with Ferdinand II, King of Aragon. Each power took a partition of this kingdom during the Treaty of Granada (1500), but were eventually at war over the partitioning, and by 1504 France had lost its share of Naples.
[edit] Death
Louis proved to be a popular king, introducing reforms in the judicial system and reducing taxes. These reforms and his caring nature earned him the epithet Father of the People. He was the protector and patron of the historian Paulus Aemilius Veronensis (Paolo Emilio of Verona). Louis died on January 1, 1515 and was interred in Saint Denis Basilica. Because of the Salic Law, which did not allow women to inherit the throne of France, he was succeeded by his cousin, Francis, Count of Angoulême, husband of Louis's daughter Claude of France, who reigned as Francis I.
[edit] References
- Baumgartner, Frederic J., Louis XII New York: St.Martin's Press, 1996. ISBN 0-312-12072-9
| Preceded by Charles VIII |
King of France 1498–1515 |
Succeeded by Francis I |
| Preceded by Lodovico Sforza |
Duke of Milan 1499–1512 |
Succeeded by Massimiliano Sforza |
| Preceded by Frederick IV |
King of Naples 1501–1504 |
Succeeded by Ferdinand III |
